It had been two weeks since Tang Wan was transferred to Fu Hospital. Her life was going well and she had no mania episodes. Except for a few times when she felt weirdly extra energetic.
Her relationship with her doctor, Fu Tinghao was also going exceptionally well. After all, the man was patient and good at his job. He also listened to her concerns and gave her advices. She relied on him the most in the hospital.
However, her normal life suddenly turned bleak one day.
It was just like every day, peaceful and only a few cases when some patients wreaked havoc. But everything else was going well. The nurses were resting leisurely in their station. Even the doctors weren't that busy.
She was on her way to Fu Tinghao's office just like every other day. As she walked past the nurses' station, she heard one of them say, "Have you heard? There was an emergency tonight?"
Another nurse replied, her interest instantly piqued, "What is it about?"
"An auto crash. It was a family of three. Both parents died but the boy survived."
"Did they die in our hospital?"
"Yeah. They died the moment they were lifted onto the stretcher," the nurse who brought the new said. She seemed excited and fulfilled as she narrated. "But, the boy is so pitiful. He's only five."
The other nurse shook her head. "Yeah, he is pitiful. He's left alone in this world."
Tang Wan pursed her lips, not wanting to hear such bad news anymore. As she walked past, one of the nurses noticed her and immediately waved excitedly. "Miss Tang."
Tang Wan turned to them and smiled. "Nurse Sun."
"You're going for therapy?"
"Yes," Tang Wan replied, flashing a smile and walked off in the direction of Fu Tinghao's office. But, her mind kept revolving around those last seven sentences: He is left alone in this world.
It made her remember that she was also left alone in this world. Her beautiful mother and her gentle father were gone. She had managed to keep her mind off it all this time. But, she had never gotten past the hurdle of her parent's death.
Her eyes dimmed and her mood sunk unfavorably. She was in low spirits as she took the elevator and appeared at the door of his office.
Li Jun was sitting at his desk, extremely focused as he typed on his computer. Tang Wan walked to him. "Assistant Li."
He looked up from the computer and when he saw it was her, he immediately flashed her a smile. "Miss Tang."
"Is he in?"
"Boss?" he asked. "No. He's got an emergency surgery. 24hrs."
The smile on Tang Wan's face immediately fell. A tiny streak of sweat rolled down her back and she subconsciously clenched her knuckles. The gnawing, horrible feeling in her heart instantly sprouted even more.
Li Jun also noticed a change and immediately stood up. "Miss Tang, are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine."
Tang Wan forced a smile. She turned around and walked away not wanting him to know what was going on. She felt helpless and needed to talk to someone. And, the only person she could talk to wasn't around.
She didn't want to feel so helpless too. But, she couldn't help it. She trudged to the elevator with listless eyes, ignoring the people who recognized her and greeted her along the way.
The moment she entered her ward, she collapsed weakly onto the bed. She lifted her head and gazed onto the white ceilings apprehensively.
She lay there in silence, just listening to the sounds of people walking past her door. Until, sleep caught up to her.
Tang Wan turned in her sleep, her long hair falling from its bun and cascaded down her back. She had a dream.
In the dream, she saw a cottage. Tang Wan recognized it; she always spent the summer holidays there with her parents when she was younger. It was located in the countryside. The day was sunny like always. It was late summer and plants were already producing buds..
A young girl was squatting by a flowerbed, looking at the beautiful colors and varieties of the flowers. She was dressed in a pink pinafore and she only looked about five years old.
But Tang Wan recognized who she was. It was her when she was younger.
"Little Wanwan, what are you doing?" a male voice called out from the distance. It sounded like the voice of a middle aged man.
The man soon appeared beside Tang Wan. When she saw him, she instantly beamed and gestured for him to come closer. She called out sweetly, her set of white teeth coming into view as she smiled. "Daddy, come see."
The man smiled dotingly and leaned down beside her. He looked at the flowers too. "What's wrong?"
Tang Wan immediately pointed at a sun flower. "See. What's this?"
"Oh," the man replied as he rubbed her head when he saw that she was pointing at a caterpillar that was slithering among the tiny petals of the flower. "It's a caterpillar."
"What's a caterpillar?"
"A caterpillar lives on flowers. When it grows up, it will become a butterfly."
Tang Wan's eyes immediately lit up at his words. But a second later, she frowned and pulled at his sleeve. "But daddy, why are you not a butterfly? You've grown up, haven't you?"
The man was initially stunned by her words. He looked at her speechlessly before pulling at her ponytail. "But daddy is not a caterpillar. I'm a human. When Wanwan grows up too, you'll be like me."
But he didn't expect her to frown as she said, "No. I want to be a beautiful butterfly when I grow up. I'll fly around."
The man was even more speechless. At some point, a woman had also appeared at the door of the cottage, staring at the father and daughter with a smile. Tang Wan knew it was her mother.
The scene was beautiful and Tang Wan also could help but arc a smile too in her sleep.